In emergencies, transporting an injured person is a difficult endeavor, particularly when assistance is limited and the injured person must be transported up or down stairs. Not only is it more difficult for people to move an injured person up or down stairs, but, depending upon the injuries, the stairs may also cause additional damage to the injured person, as may be the case with spinal injuries.
Unfortunately, the world must always be prepared for terrorist attacks and other catastrophes. Recent incidents have affected metropolitan transit systems, such as the subway. For example, on Mar. 20, 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo (former name of a group now known as Aleph) performed an act of domestic terrorism on the Tokyo subway. The terrorists released sarin, a chemical weapon of mass destruction, on several lines of the Tokyo Metro, killing thirteen people, severely injuring fifty, and causing temporary vision problems for nearly a thousand others. In another attack, on Jun. 11, 1996, a bomb was detonated in the Moscow Metro, killing four people and injuring twelve.
Half a decade later, a string of attacks on subway stations was executed worldwide. On Feb. 5, 2001, another bomb exploded in one of Moscow's busiest underground railway stations during rush hour, injuring approximately a dozen people and causing minor damage. On Feb. 18, 2003, an arsonist set fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea, killing nearly 200 and injuring at least 150 more. On Feb. 6, 2004, a powerful explosion, apparently set off by a suicide bomber, ripped through an underground train in Moscow during the morning rush hour, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 100.
On Mar. 11, 2004, Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants were responsible for train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 others. On Jul. 7, 2005, four militants detonated four bombs in London's Underground in protest of Britain's support for the Iraq war, killing 52 people on a network that carries more than three million commuters daily. In late 2009, American authorities foiled an attempt by Afghan-American Najibullah Zazi to bomb the New York City subway system shortly after the 2009 anniversary of the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Most recently, on Mar. 29, 2010, two bombings in the Moscow subway killed at least 37 people.
It is an unfortunate trend that terrorists are targeting subway systems. Subway systems are not only crowded, but they are compact spaces that amplify the carnage caused by even a moderately sized bomb. In fact, shortly after the 2010 Moscow attacks, Will Geddes, Managing Director of International Corporate Protection, remarked “[s]ubway attacks are ideal for a terrorist,” adding “[t]hey are bringing the whole city to a halt and they not only create the disruption on that particular day, but they create a greater residue of fear, which is their main aim . . . . They are getting their message across and causing disruption.”
The same factors that make a subway an ideal target for terrorists make a subway an even more difficult rescue mission. Because subways are below ground, they inherently have limited access to the outside world, and those few access points they have are typically narrow and obstructed with stairs, turnstiles, and possibly debris. A traditional gurney will have a difficult time navigating a subway system. Similarly, a traditional gurney is cumbersome and cannot easily traverse a flight of stairs. Typically, carrying the gurney and injured person requires two people (e.g., medical response personnel).
Although this method may work in limited circumstances, such as when a single person is injured or in open, spacious areas, it would be nearly impossible to timely and effectively assist the victims of a subway terrorist attack during an emergency situation. To overcome this medical response deficiency, there is a need for a device which is (i) compact and light; (ii) capable of transporting a person up or down stairs; and (iii) preferably requires only a single caregiver to transport an injured person. Such a device could, in operation, resemble that of a sled, which can safely and quickly drag a patient to safety to receive medical treatment but be compacted and stowed in subways, stairwells, and high-rise buildings, or be easily transported to such sites.
While many sled-type patient evacuation devices are known (such as the evacuation sled disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0278754 to Walkingshaw), these sleds require several caregivers to transfer the patient onto the sled for evacuation. The sleds are then dragged through the evacuation site, down numerous flights of stairs, and then to an evacuation center where the patient waits (often for hours) for transportation to a hospital, where the patient must be removed from the sled and placed in a bed (again requiring several caregivers). This leads to problems such as contusions to the patient from being bounced down steps, patient hypothermia, and the necessity for many caregivers to perform the multiple patient-transfer steps.
Other known structures for evacuating non-ambulatory persons include boards or mats to support the patient. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,008 to Johansson discloses rigid mats with straps, placed respectively beneath the patient's chest and thighs. A relatively complicated Rescue Transportation Mattress is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,474, to Moran, et al., wherein an inflatable support member and crossed straps are used to secure the person being transported. Again, such solutions do little for a quick, safe, and warm evacuation of a patient during an emergency.
There are numerous other patents and patent applications employing rigid or semi-rigid supports and belts or straps to secure the person being transported to the support. One apparent disadvantage to this use of straps or belts is that they could exert undue or excessive pressure on particular locations on the bodies of some evacuees, such as in the case of recent surgery patients. Another disadvantage that is not obvious is that the use of many straps, harnesses, buckles, etc., delays the process of readying the patient for rescue and evacuation when timely removal is vital. More importantly, while they may be able to travel down stairs, none of prior art is capable of safely evacuating a person up a flight of stairs.
Thus, what is needed is an economical emergency mattress capable of being used to evacuate persons from areas with limited access, such as subways and high-rises, that is preferably capable of operation by a single caregiver, provides a warm and secure cocoon for the patient, allows easy transport over any type of surface (e.g., up and down stairs), provides proper support for all of the patient's body, allows the patient to feel a high degree of comfort in what is otherwise a very stressful situation, and provides securing means (e.g., straps) to firmly hold the patient in place during transit.